5:45 p.m. Discussion

From Chief Meteorologist Craig Carnesi...

Fire conditions improved today across the Big Country today as winds finally remained calm. The system responsible for those winds has moved into the Northeast this evening.

Our main problem over the next week or so will be the persistent dry weather and the passing of systems to our North. These systems will continue to filter in dry air and create strong, gusty winds across the Big Country.

The next system looks to form Thursday afternoon and winds will kick back up to 10 to 20 miles per hour. I don't expect the winds to be as strong as Tuesday, but any increase in winds will increase the fire danger tremendously. By Friday the system will push a cold front through and bring gusty winds out of the North and Northwest. So both Thursday and Friday could be potentially dangerous for fire weather.

Saturday looks better, but Sunday could be a repeat of Tuesday across the Big Country. We will watch yet another system pass to our North and create a tight pressure gradient at the surface here. That tighter pressure gradient will kick winds up to 20 to 30 miles per hour New Year's Day.

Needless to say, fireworks are a bad idea for this New Year's Holiday. They are banned in most counties anyhow, but if you have any, please, save them for another year.